


8 Stones and A Pile of Ash

by KillingMonsters



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Death, Grief/Mourning, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22595596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillingMonsters/pseuds/KillingMonsters
Summary: Zoro doesn't survive the confrontation on Raftel.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	8 Stones and A Pile of Ash

Zoro pushed himself up, halfway before his leg refused to go further. He snapped his gaze downward, prepared to free his leg and tackle the enemy before he reached Luffy, once again. He froze, then, eyes landing on the cause of his trouble. A deep cut revealed the flesh and bone of his thigh, just above his knee. He fell to the side, pain rushing through him, and landed in a slumped sitting position on the cold ground. Blood soaked his leg, and his haramaki. He pulled aside his yakuta, searching for further damage. He found it. A large wound, spanning the hip above his wounded leg, up to a few inches below his ribcage. What looked like claws had torn his side away, leaving nothing but new agony and weakness. He pushed himself backward to lean against a large rock, pressing the wadded remains of haramaki to the much worse stomach wound. The gash in his leg hadn't hit his artery, but it didn't matter. Not even the world's greatest  
doctor can cure death, after all. He looked up, in time to see his captain crush the skull of his attacker. He smiled, and turned away. 

"Zoro! Are you alright?" The joyful sound of sandals approached, and Zoro repressed a pain filled groan. Luffy was standing over him now, looking down. 

"Go, Luffy." 

"Hey! Hey, we need to get Chopper! That's too much blood!" 

"Luffy." He hated that his voice shook, but it was all he could do. The boy knelt next to him, both hands pressing at his own much larger ones. Blood still bubbled through the cloth, unhindered and hot. "'S'okay. I don't feel so much like moving now. I'm gonna take a nap." 

"No! We're so close!" 

"Yeah. You are. Don't waste time here, go."

"Zoro, you're coming with me." 

"I want to. I want nothing more than to come with you," He shifted one blood soaked hand to hold Luffy's, pulling it toward his chest. "But Im too tired. Go."

"Zoro... I-" 

"It's okay." He released the small hand, his own falling into his lap. "Go on. Go become the Pirate King I've always known you to be. Come back for me when you hold the crown you deserve." 

His captains face fell. Zoro knew Luffy wasn't so naive to believe his first mate would still be alive when he returned. He knew Luffy could see it in his face, in his shoulders, in his eye. He wanted to erase the pained look from Luffy's face, but it wouldn't matter. No apologies could stop this. 

"Go. Don't keep me waiting." 

"Okay. Okay, Zoro." There was hesitation in Luffy's body, and he cupped his oldest friends face in his hands to press his lips against the cool forehead. "Sleep well, My swordsman. I'll be back soon." 

"Goodnight, Captain." His voice was weak now, barely a whisper. Luffy released him, and he slumped back against the stone. 

The younger one walked off, the spring in his step absent, but he didn't turn back. Zoro watched him go, sight blurring. He wanted to yell, to urge him on toward his goal, but he shut his eye and couldn't find the strength to open it again. 

\---

Luffy became the Pirate King, after a long fight with the marines and the Blackbeard pirates. Blackbeard's corpse lay dead, skull caved in, just 50 feet from the body of the Pirate King's own first mate. 

Only one of them would be lifted from the blood stained earth into gentle arms, and carried from the island. 

Franky built the coffin, even though he'd never call it that. It was comfortable, soft cushion covering the inside, a pale green. The exterior was painted and carved with beautiful scenes of battle and peace, Usopp's sketches piled around the shipwrights workspace. It was beautiful. He set it at the ships center, on the sun bleached deck. 

Chopper had cleaned the wounds and covered them, tears soaking his fur. He almost felt Zoro was simply unconscious, and would wake up when he was healed. Almost, because he knew it wasn't true. Once he'd finished, he replaced the torn and bloody clothes with fresh ones, smoothing cloth over fatal damage. 

Luffy came and lifted him from the infirmary, unsettled by the empty weight of the body in his arms. He wouldn't look down, knowing he'd see a blank face, and the unseeing eye barely visible under low lashes. He lowered it gently into Franky's work, sure to press a gentle kiss to the faintly bruised knuckles - before setting his hand to his chest and stepping away. 

Sanji lay an expensive sake beside the body's shoulder. It was unopened of course, the best he had. He turned away and found his place beside the shipwright. 

Nami framed him with gold, her treasure covering the cushioned box. Gems glittered from within them, lovely as the sea, and yet not nearly as craved as the silver in their swordsman's eye. 

Robin pressed a tiny flower into the fabric by his breast. She left a soft kiss on it, and smiled as she apoke. 

"It's a daisy. I thought you'd prefer a simple one." And then she too, joined the others. 

Usopp's stories were carved into the wood, not a single one a lie. Tales and tales of heroism and sacrifice, and a few of pride and glory. Not one of them was about himself, and all of them broke his heart. 

Brook didn't sing for him, as no words could stand with him. Instead, he pulled a well tightened bow across a perfectly tuned violin. The sound was indescribable, since he wouldn't let anyone else hear it. It was for their swordsman only, and none other. 

They let him go together, burning him with the setting sun. The red rose high on the sea, the sky lighting in wonderful colors.


End file.
